By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
It’s a good thing Huntington and Parkway will be wearing different colors when they take the field tonight for a rather large District 1-5A game. Otherwise, it might be a somewhat difficult to tell the two teams apart.
“When you watch them on film, they are a lot like us,” Huntington coach Stephen Dennis said. They are athletic, very good on the offensive line and very good on the defensive line. They have a big back, just like we do, that they lean on. We just happen to have two of them.”
“Very similar,” said Parkway coach Coy Brotherton. “They are one of the more physical teams that we are going to see this year. You can definitely draw a comparison between the two of us.”
Both teams are coming off their first loss of the year in district play. Huntington had won four in a row before last week and Parkway had won its first five.
“We just need to continue to do what we’ve been doing,” Brotherton said. “We were very close last week a few times to having a big play and just didn’t execute it. If we can get those big plays Friday night, I think we will be OK.”
“I know that they have dealt with a lot of injuries and other stuff, but I mean this from the bottom on my heart: I am so impressed with what Coy and his staff have done to get those kids ready to play every week,” Dennis said. “That’s a testament to their staff.”
It’s been a rough stretch of district highway for the Panthers, but Brotherton says playing big game after big game is what it’s all about.
“We’ve played an undefeated team two weeks (Byrd, Airline) in a row and now you have Huntington,” he said. “It’s fun to play these big games. Our kids like it. It’s nice to have two of these three at home. There’s an opportunity when you play these big games and you better focus during the week to not get embarrassed on Friday.”
The Panthers are in the midst of a four-game stretch (Captain Shreve is next week) where their opponents are a combined 19-5.
Huntington features a double threat at running back and quarterback. Nyles Hullaby got the majority of the rushing yards last week with 106 yards and two touchdowns but Kamron Davis also sees plenty of time at running back.
The Panthers feature workhorse running back C.J. Dudley, who had 39 carries for 210 yards and four touchdowns two weeks ago in a win over Byrd.
This will also be Homecoming for Parkway and one Panther alum will have a particularly good view of the action – Huntington coach Stephen Dennis.
“I think we are going to present him with the crown before the game,” Brotherton joked.
This is certainly the marquee game of the District 1-5A schedule and the only one with teams in the top half of the standings facing each other.
District leader Airline (6-0, 4-0) will travel to Haughton (2-4, 1-4), Byrd (5-1, 3-1) will be at Lee Hedges Stadium to play Natchitoches Central (1-5, 0-4) and Benton, fresh off its first win of the season, will go to Rodney Duron Stadium to play Evangel (1-5, 1-4).
Captain Shreve (4-2) will be on the road in St. Charles Parish to play in one of the toughest venues in the state for visiting teams when the Gators play Destrehan (3-3).
In District 1-4A, the feature game is Minden (5-1, 2-1) traveling to Leonard C. Barnes Stadium to meet Booker T. Washington (3-3, 2-1). The Lions are in the midst of a stretch of playing four games against teams that have one district loss or less.
The Loyola Flyers (4-2, 2-1), who have allowed one touchdown or less in four of their six games, will be at Independence Stadium to meet Woodlawn (2-4, 1-2) and Bossier (3-3, 1-2) will take on Northwood (5-1, 2-1) at Jerry Burton Stadium.
Calvary (4-2, 3-0) will be in Farmerville to play Union Parish (3-3, 3-0) in a battle of undefeated teams in district play. Green Oaks (1-5, 0-2) will be at Homer (1-5, 0-2). Magnolia Charter (0-5) will play a non-district game against Ringgold (2-4).
In a District 1-1A game, Plain Dealing (0-6, 0-4) is at Arcadia (2-4, 1-2).
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com